Evaluation of the Effects of Soil Depth on Microbial Activity in Three Agroecosystems in Venezuela

The objective of this study was to determine the total organic carbon (TOC), basal respiration (BR), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), the metabolic quotient (qCO₂), and ratio of microbial biomass carbon to total organic carbon (MBC/TOC) at different soil depths in three agroecosystems in Fundo Zamorano Independencia, Cojedes State, Venezuela. The types of agroecosystems studied were short-cycle corn and bean cropland, pastureland, and gallery forest, which was used as the control soil. The BR was determined by measuring the carbon dioxide released in a closed system, and the MBC was analyzed by applying the substrate-induced respiration method. The BR and the MBC varied depending on depth and transect position, decreasing between 18% and 38% at a depth of >10 cm with respect to the measurements taken between 0 and 10 cm. Significantly greater BR and MBC values were found at the middle transect position, where the soils with the greatest moisture content are located. No significant differences for BR, MBC, and qCO₂ values were found among the agroecosystems. This was due to the high spatial variability of the physical and chemical properties of the soils in the study site. However, with the application of the Kruskal–Wallis test, significant differences for the TOC and MBC/TOC values were found among the agroecosystems. These results highlight the importance of the type of plant cover over soil in different agroecosystems, mainly on pastureland, which maintains the potential of the inocular mycorrhizal of the soil.